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Hanlon Throws Short-Term Rental Future Into “Limbo”

At the meeting of City
Council on Monday, Dec. 9, Councilor John Hanlon dismantled the progress on
short-term rental legislation in the City of Everett – something the
administration has been working to fine-tune for the last several months.

In preparation for a final
vote on Dec. 23, Councilors were asked to enroll a new section regarding
short-term rentals to the City’s Zoning Ordinance. The enrollment required a
two-thirds majority in order to pass, and failed to do so when Councilor Hanlon
voted against it. His vote was critical, given the fact that three other
councilors were absent.

There was a marked pause in
the voting after the councilor voiced his opposition. City Clerk Sergio
Cornelio, whose office has been one of the offices that worked tirelessly to
draft comprehensive short-term rental legislation, was visibly flustered.

Councilor Rosa DiFlorio
tried to get Councilor Hanlon to reconsider his position and he responded
inaudibly.

Following the vote, Cornelio
announced that the measure had not passed, effectively rendering the existing
short-term rental legislation null and void.

“My office, along with [the
City Solicitor’s Office] and James Soper (CBO of the Inspectional Services
Department), has worked probably 25 hours on these ordinances. We’ve worked the
whole year to amend this,” he told Council. “I don’t know what we’re going to
do with regards to short-term rentals. They’ll be in limbo going forward. We
will have people operating illegally.”

Short-term rentals in
Everett have been a major topic of conversation in recent months, with
residents calling for City leadership to adopt stricter guidelines for
operators. Council passed measures requiring owners to live at the property
year-round and become licensed with the City. However, the failure to update
the Zoning Ordinance may mean that there is no legal basis for enforcing these
rules.

In conversations with The
Independent, Council members expressed disappointment with Councilor Hanlon’s
decision.

“I can’t believe this just
happened. I’m in a state of shock,” said Councilor DiFlorio, who originally
introduced the need for short-term rental legislation earlier this year. “Nobody
should be voting against that. We’ve been working on it for a year.”

The councilwoman said that
the ordinances may not have been perfect, but they were better than having none
at all and could have been amended in the future.

“I have great respect for
Councilor Hanlon, but I am disappointed to see that a piece of such importance
to Everett failed to pass,” said Councilor Michael McLaughlin. “This is one
matter that can truly protect the residents of Everett.”

Councilor Anthony DiPierro
said he “wasn’t really sure what to think” about the councilor’s decision.

“It’s an ordinance we’ve
worked hard on for a long time,” he said. “I’m not sure what his reasoning was
for voting that way.”

Cornelio told The
Independent that he was working with the City Solicitor’s Office to salvage the
ordinances already in place. He is scrambling to call an emergency meeting of
Council to enroll the measure before a final vote at the Dec. 23 meeting.

Failing to pass the
short-term rental legislation by the end of the year would mean having to
reintroduce it in 2020 with the new Council. It would then have to pass through
several stages, which Cornelio said would take two months at the very least,
and more likely three to four months.

There was some speculation
that Councilor Hanlon, who had historically supported the legislation, may not
have fully comprehended what he was voting on at the time and may be
reconsidering his position.

The councilor did not return a call from
The Independent regarding his decision.